WTO’s Lamy Says Trade Deal Is Needed to Ease Bali Talks

Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) -- World Trade Organization members
need to agree on topics related to trade facilitation,
agriculture and developing countries by the middle of the year
to reach a deal at the ninth ministerial conference in December
in Bali, Director-General Pascal Lamy said.

“There remain many technical topics open, and it’s about
closing them one by one. I believe this is doable,” Lamy said
at a press conference at the World Economic Forum in Davos,
Switzerland. He said it would be good to aim for the “low-hanging fruit” in trade talks rather than one single full-trade
agreement.

The WTO member countries aim to salvage an interim deal on
specific issues from the Doha Round of trade talks at the
meeting in Bali. Swiss Economy Minister Johann Schneider-Ammann,
speaking at the same press conference after a ministerial
meeting in Davos, said the WTO aims to roll back protectionist
measures and reach a trade-facilitation agreement.

“Time is short and all members agreed we should be
realistic and not overload the boat,” Schneider-Ammann said.
“I insisted on focusing on items that are doable and where
consensus can be realistically achieved.”

There has been a “growing sense of optimism” in recent
days, Indonesian Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan told reporters at
the press conference today. “We would like Bali to be a place
we can move things forward. Bali should be place where failure
could not and should not be an option.”